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Will Jorge Soler Be Worth the Investment?

June 16th, 2014 at 6:00 AM By Tim Duxbury

Jorge Soler was left out of the Chicago Cubs 2017 starting lineup, published last week, and today we ask the question, is Soler still worth the investment? The Cubs signed the Cuban outfielder to a nine-year, 30 million dollar contract back in 2012 in hopes that he could, one day, be the northsider’s version of Yasiel Puig. Like Puig, Soler can hit for power, steal bases, and make jaw-dropping plays in the outfield. However, Soler also often falls victim to frustrating mental errors.

At 22 years old, Soler should be on the verge of becoming the Cubs everyday right fielder, but immaturity and injuries have stunted his development thus far. Soler has missed significant time due to a stress fracture in his tibia last season, and has been limited to just seven games this season due to recurring hamstring issues. He was also suspended five games for charging at the opposing dugout with a bat last April. Soler looks like a kid who has all the talent in the world but just can’t seem to stay on the field long enough to put it on display. And his window to make it at the big league level appears to be getting smaller. When Soler was first signed, the Cubs outfield was a barren wasteland of misfit and stopgap players but that is no longer the case. The Cubs outfield could soon feature of top prospects Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Arismendy Alcantara and Kyle Schwarber, who are infielders by trade but could be on the move in an attempt to get their bats in the lineup.

The 30 million dollar investment won’t be a terribly poor one if Soler can make it to the major leagues but if he doesn’t succeed in the way that we hope he will it would certainly be a waste of talent and a huge bust in the mind of Cubs’ fans everywhere.